Research

Research Interests

My current research uses women’s war knitting as a way to understand war mobilization, women’s volunteer labor, and gendered citizenship in the United States during the world wars. I am primarily interested in textiles, making and process, and the way that makers create objects related to a higher cause. My previous research focused primarily on grassroots craft and media fandom craft and the relationships makers form with their creations and with each other.

Masters Thesis

“Fancraft Phenomena,” Design Studies, School of Human Ecology. University of Wisconsin-Madison, 2011.

Advisor: Beverly Gordon

Committee: James P. Leary, Ann Smart Martin

My Masters thesis focused on surveying fan craft, craft objects made by media fans and investigating the meaning that fans create within the community by making and sharing objects online. These objects include everything from Harry Potter scarves to Tetris quilts to Sherlock plush dolls and are shared online via websites like LiveJournal, Tumblr, and Ravelry.